Storytelling is great for getting your audience interested in what you are talking about and for illustrating many principles and ideas. But sometimes it can be a little bit annoying. How much of a personal story should you share and when should you just get to the main point fast, without boring your listeners? The businesswoman.com website offered some tips.
Emotions should be neutral
If you are still experiencing the story emotionally, think before sharing it, it is probably better not to do it. A story must be well processed before you can start using it as an illustration. If your emotions are still raw and very strong, the story is not ready to be shared with the audience. If when you think about it you feel sadness or rage, how could you talk about it in front of others? You should not. When you want to use a story, you must feel neutral about it.
Is there really a connection between your point and the story?
Story telling makes you unique. Well, at least to some extent. However, your story needs to make a point. It must elicit an action and have a major takeaway that can affect anybody. What you need is to connect your point with the story. The result for the audience must be a clear lesson stemming from the story that is in line with your idea. A personal story should not be used solely for establishing a sense of trust between you and your audience, although that is an important benefit as well.
Think about who are people in your audience
It is perfectly OK to share a personal story with some people, but for others it can be too much information. Think about what your audience is expecting to hear from you and also what they need to hear. By sharing a personal story, you are making yourself vulnerable. Such vulnerability should be only for the small group of people who know you and support you at all times. This depends on what feels right to you. Is the takeaway from your story really meaningful enough? If it is, then go on and share the story. But when you are not sure about it, the chance is your audience will get confused by story telling.
-jk-